New essay by Loren Schoenberg, musician and Executive Director of the Jazz Museum in Harlem.

No one can deny the eternal beauty of Duke Ellingtons music of the 1930s and 40s, the decades when he and his band mates were regularly scaling new heights of both orchestral and small group jazz. Yet not to pay similar respect to his masterworks of the 1950s would be scandalous. Ellington then embraced the long-playing album era with a passion and sense of invention that can be palpably felt as one brilliant recording followed another.

True, some of the giants were gone from the fold, but consider some of the names stocking the Ellington units during the decade: Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves, Clark Terry, Ray Nance and Harry Carney among others, as well as Dukes right hand man, composer and arranger Billy Strayhorn. Taking advantage of the instrumental riches at their disposal and the additional space offered by the LP, Ellington and Strayhorn began thinking in terms of ambitious expanded projects.

The initial Columbia album, Masterpieces By Ellington, found the maestro embracing the new technology, displaying grand arrangements of his popular anthems. Other visionary projects soon followed: Ellington Uptown, featuring the masterful composition, Tone Parallel To Harlem; Blue Rose with singer Rosemary Clooney; Such Sweet Thunder, a Shakespearian adaption; Black, Brown and Beige with majestic contributions from Mahalia Jackson; and Anatomy of a Murder, with music written for the hit film, among them. Each of these albums, as well as other jewels including Ellington Indigos, Blues In Orbit and A Drum Is A Woman, brim with marvelous melodies, sumptuous arrangements, glistening solos and exceptional ensemble work from all involved.

Consider just a handful of the contemporary gems to be found on these albums: The Star-Crossed Lovers, The Tattooed Bride, and U.M.M.G. -- and there are dozens more to be found without the slightest difficulty. The 1950s, it turns out, was just one more golden era for the Duke.

9-CD set with all 9 original albums Duke Ellington and his orchestra cut for the Columbia inprint, all come in nice mini-LP replica sleeves, including bonus tracks, original artwork and a comprenhensive booklet.